Monday, 6 March 2017

EMERA - SILENTLY BUILDING THEIR OWN NL ENERGY WAREHOUSE

Guest Post by “JM”

“If you are
ignorant of both your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril” - Sun
Tzu

One thing
that is admirable about the original Upper Churchill contract is its efficient
use of the English language. The 1969
Power agreement is succinct, simple to follow, clear in its expectations of
both parties, and enforceable - as has been demonstrated on multiple occasions
– to our great loss.

It
is the polar opposite of the agreements between Nalcor and Emera on the Muskrat
Falls Project. Twenty-six
separate legal agreements, constituting 5000 pages of legal language, are used to
manage its vast array of terms. You won't find anything succinct in them. They are repetitive, are not simple to follow, nor clear in terms of expectations.

My
initial impression of the contracts, after their release in 2014, was that they were conceived by executives of regulated companies who
were advised by lawyers working on reimbursable fee structures. They were, and I expect will continue to be,
the legal equivalent of a make-work project.

Indeed,
the contracting structure is so complex that the utility of their release to
the public is moot, as no private individual or interest group could ever
afford the legal team to review them in detail.

Retrospectively,
the greatest injustice to our own 2012 PUB review of the Muskrat Falls project is that the Emera deal was not included in the terms of reference. The current PUB investigation into the
reliability of our electrical system, after Muskrat Falls, clearly demonstrates
the importance of the Maritime Link to the future of our electrical grid. The exclusion of the Emera deal is another example
of how political decisions railroaded this project, to the detriment of the public's long term interest.

Make
no mistake Emera and Nova Scotia are the principal beneficiaries of the Muskrat
Falls project. The original 20 for 20
deal, (20% of the energy for 20% of the cost) has now been revised by
conditions imposed by the UARB. Nova
Scotia ratepayers will have access to nearly 2500 GWhr of energy (~50% of the
energy), while paying less than 15% of the total project cost.

Table
1: Summary of Project Costs (Not
Including AFUDC Amounts)

In
addition, as discussed recently in my post on this Blog entitled Are You Ready Tp Pay To Power Nova Scotia?", if the UARB does not approve the current application by Emera for early
commissioning of the Maritime Link, Nalcor may be exposed to a portion of the
“Unapproved Overrun”.The decision could
cause Nalcor to be exposed to costs of up to $100 million over the next 3
years.Such an outcome would place
significant additional pressure on Nalcor’s profitability and cash flow.

Can
the deal with Emera deviate any more from the original sales pitch made in 2010
by Premier Williams?

Following last week’s post, a colleague of mine
directed me to the most recent investor relations presentation from Emera. It contained an infographic on the Muskrat
Falls project together with the quote – “Emera to invest 600 Million, for a 59% partnership capital in the
Labrador Island Link” (Page 12 of the Investor Presentation). See the area within the red broken line in the Exhibit below.

Although
I have determinedly followed the machinations of the Muskrat Falls project since
2011, I have never heard of or seen reference to 59% of the Partnership
Capital. It having been brought to my attention, I could only wonder what it meant.

First, to
refresh the reader's memory, the original 2010 deal entitled Emera to 29%
of the Labrador Island Link. The
arrangement was disclosed by Nalcor to the PUB in July 2011 (Page 27) per the terms of the term sheet signed in the
same year. Emera were also entitled to own up to 49% of the Lower Churchill Project
transmission assets, based on the following
principles:

LTA 100% Nalcor Owned

ML 100% Emera Owned

LIL Percentage based on the estimated capital costs of each
transmission asset at

sanction of the Labrador Island Link, adjusted when the
actual costs are finally

determined.

The Maritime Link has been largely delivered on budget while the cost of the
Labrador Transmission Assets (LTA) and the Labrador Island Link (LIL) have increased. Thus if Emera are permitted
to keep 49% of the total ownership, we must conclude their share of the LIL increased from the 29% level contained in the original deal.

The
following table provides a summary of the calculation used to determine Emera’s
percentage interest in the LIL in order to maintain the overall target of 49%.

In
their December 2014 investor presentation, Emera confirmed (on page 9) that
they had invested $400 million for a 35% equity interest in the Labrador Island
Link. This confirms the author’s calculations
in Table 2. Based upon similar
calculations, Emera should now have a 38.6% percent equity interest in the
Labrador Island Link in order to maintain the 49% interest in the total
transmission assets.

Yet
that is not what Emera are advising. The Company is telling investors that they
have 59% of the share capital. The
obvious question is: what is this new arrangement based upon?

Admittedly,
the complex legal agreements and multi layered companies in the LIL make it
all hard to understand. However, as the saying goes let's follow the money. Below
is a copy of the “Sources of Funding” provided by Nalcor. This graphic confirms that Emera has $800
million invested in the LIL. Of that sum, Nalcor has stated that $400 million is
invested as equity, and $200 million is provided under the “Allowance for Funds
Used During Construction” (AFUDC). What, then, is the remaining $200 million
investment used for? Does the total $600 million equity investment account for
the increase in share capital to 59%?

The
total cost of the Labrador Island Link is now estimated at $3.5 billion. The federal loan guarantee
requires a debt to equity ratio of 75:25 for the LIL, with specific cash
reserve requirements to maintain a required debt servicing level over the life
of the project. This cash reserve is
what is identified by Nalcor in the above graphic, as $0.7 billion.

Allowing
for 25% equity and a portion of the cash reserve, the total amount of equity
required for the Labrador Island Link is estimated to be ~$1.05 billion. Therefore, $600 million from Emera is ominously
in the range of 59% of the equity in the Labrador Island Link.

Again, we must ask: has
Emera now effectively increased their investment to a level where they will also obtain 59% of the profits accruing to the Labrador Island Link? It is not a secondary question especially given that the Company will receive the allowable 8.8% return on its equity contribution.

If
true, Emera are entitled to make $50-60 million in annual profits from the
Newfoundland ratepayer. This is a far
cry from what was communicated by Nalcor at the beginning of this
project.

If
Emera is now entitled to that share of the returns from the LIL, as it seems, we might also ask if Nalcor’s cash flow position (and that of the government’s) forced them to go to
Emera looking for additional equity contributions - just to maintain the 75:25 debt to
equity ratio on the LIL as required under the Federal Loan Guarantee? Has Nalcor used the complicated Class A and
Class B share structure in the contracts to allow Emera to increase their
equity while respecting the 49% limit on transmission ownership? In short, is Emera effectively bankrolling Nalcor?

It is interesting to note that this change occurred between March 2016 when Emera - not Nalcor - advised they had 37% ownership, and May 2016 when the figure rose to 59% of share capital. Could this have been one of the final acts of Ed Martin, and the board
chaired by Ken Marshall? When did the
government become aware? Are they aware of it now?

If
this is the case, Nalcor and the Government of Newfoundland have silently permitted a Nova Scotia company to essentially take a majority stake in this
vital transmission asset! With annual profits expected in the $60
million range, Emera will earn almost as much on the Labrador Island
Transmission system as Newfoundland Power makes over its full operation (approximately
$80 million annually).

Unbelievably,
we will soon be asked to commission the LIL early to supply RECALL energy to
Nova Scotia in order to facilitate the UARB’s approval for the early
commissioning of the Maritime Link.
Nalcor will likely have to still pay a portion of any unapproved overrun
to Emera. NL ratepayers will then be
expected to pay 100% of the LIL costs – including ALL the cost overruns – while
59% of the profit will flow to Emera.

Readers might remember that the return on equity associated with the Muskrat Falls Generating Plantis back end loaded - which is to say Nalcor had intended to subsidize the rate charged ratepayers in the early years after commissioning by delaying collection of the return on equity. If 59% of the profit from the LIL is due Emera, the Province’s ability to lower rates is severely compromised. The government's ability
to mitigate the predicted sharp increase in electricity rates to the consumer has largely dissipated.

Back
in 2010, when the term sheet was signed with Emera, the public listened to the
leadership of the province, and Nalcor. They trusted them. They did not demand a diligent review of the project. Now that the province is running out of cash, Emera are
well positioned to take advantage of the massive over-runs on Nalcor’s portion
of the project. All the while they have efficiently executed the Maritime Link on time and on budget.

Emera
are successfully building the foundations of their very own Newfoundland and
Labrador Energy Warehouse. Their success
is underpinned by an opportunistic deal, and a weak partner.

How much more ammunition do we need before there are real
calls for a public inquiry into this project?

39 comments:

Interestingly this idea of 49% of the total transmission assets is something that was not well advertised back in 2010-2013. If the allegations of phony cost estimates were true, then Nalcor knowlingly structured this deal to allow the ownership of the LIL to increase higher than 29%.

The few remaining advocates of Nalcor talk about how mega projects go over budget, and 800 million increases to Astladi should have been expected. Why then is Emera still on budget?

As Alice said "things are getting curiouser and curiouser" with the whole Muskrat Falls affair.

The secrecy that Nalcor has employed, enabled by both the PC's and Liberals, will bankrupt Nalcor. This latest revelation, that they are covertly taking Emera capital and transferring more of the ownership in secrecy not only signals Nalcor desperation but ongoing contempt for the rate/taxpayer.

Successive governments are hiding the awful truth and trading away the assets to provide cover for this ill conceived project. I fear the question now is who will end up the beneficiary when Nalcor goes bust. Will it be Emera or Hydro Quebec that mops up and takes control of a project (over)paid for by NL residents?

MF is long overdue for transparency and accountability? Will anyone rise to the occasion or will the MF investment follow Alice down the rabbit hole?

A full public inquiry into this fiasco may be the only political card Dwight and Cathy have left to play, if they want a hope in hell of being re-elected. They didn't have a hand in negotiating this silly contract, and an inquiry could unearth enough dirt on the PC's in time for the next election. But then again, the current crop of Lib's aren't the most politically savvy, and they probably pay more attention to the CBC Facebook comment section than this one, and doing something that would benefit both themselves AND the people of NL will probably go right over their heads. Silly is as silly does.

DT - Politics 101 for ya Sir. (with respect) ....Ball and Bennett have not the savvy, the political will, nor the permission from the NL "mob" (oligarchy) to expose anything !! We must expose it as citizens or our children will be further enslaved for many decades. The Easter Bunny won't help either.

Look at what Jim Learning accomplished with the simple act of walking on his traditional territory and being willing to face the consequences. He started a movement and emerged a hero. All it takes is a little courage. There is enough exposed filth between this blog and what is on the record at the JRP and castrated PUB to slay the dragon.

Not sure about the efficacy of the agreements on Muskrat project but 'the deal' is starting to stink up the place worse than the Upper Churchill deal where and when we were held to ransom at another provincial border.

This seems more and more like a crime requiring a hanging penality. I mean once upon a time, to steal a sheep resulted in hanging. Now I beleive the gallows on the Supreme Court building was last used in the 1940s, and the gallows removed. We did away with capital punishment, and I suppose that was a good thing, as sometimes the innocent were hung, and reconnecting the spinal nerves is somewhat difficult, even now. But Lard, tunder`in dine, man, we`re being robbed left , right and centre, and nobody in authority friggin cares. Sheep to the slaughter we are. Lawyers working as a make work project so to complicate matters that no one can easily understand it........and all initiated by that lawyer Williams, and now the lawyer Marshall the overseer. saying too far gone to stop. And I for one feel Fortis and Nfld Power and not so innocent in all of this, ..... did they not set the scene in those contrived forecasts to justify Muskrat, and ignoring some best practices....even still. And justice..... I mean just look at the Dunphy inquiry to see how they operate...Avis, for the RNC wanting to further tangle up and delay the inquiry. But Avis did make one important statement.......that expert witnesses tend to give you the answer you want......why else would you hire them. Did not Manitoba Hydro back up Nalcor`s claim for the most part what a wonderful project this Muskrat Falls was was, with a few small caveats(usually as a foot note that no one will notice, especially the main media) to keep the consultants integrity intact. What a shameful business, make no wonder it is shrouded in secrecy. We need Quebec style inquiry as to corruption to clean things up. A hanging offence I say. And upside down like Mussilini, that facist of Italy, who Hitler admired. And was`t he a journalist.......make no wonder the main media seem to be part of this coverup, with their silence....they have no balls for investigative journalism. A caution though: UG and GM better not have any old 22 rifles at their residence. An intruder just has to bring along some 22 cartridges,drop them here and there, declare you a lunatic, and what chance do you have....only to make work for another inquiry. Great work JM. Great work indeed.

Slowly and most certainly like a their in the night, Emera is slowly infusing money to forward the capital costs of the project to maintain the allowable debt ratios to be met to continue and walking away almost as big winners as Quebec Hydro with the Upper Churchill

The final question in this article is the ULTIMATE question...."How much more ammunition... for a public inquiry?".. The answer is NO more ammunition. We have plenty. NOW what we need is enough PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE and political embarrassment to initiate said inquiry.

Ball won't do it and NL's corrupt oligarchy's next paid puppet won't be permitted to either. Trudeau won't do it until his selfies begin to earn more international disrespect than the idol/hair worship that he childishly glows from. This bogus and corrupt scam has to go public internationally.

Can we build a (relatively) short story, such that a documentary can be produced to effectively reveal the corrupt truths behind the mountains of deceit?? Surely a producer from CTV'S W5, or CBC's Fifth Estate, (cue Gillian Findlay/other?)... or the ICIJ, (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) can be inspired with enough shocking truth to do a damn story.

... If not, we likely have local and motivated folks who'd do a video "Doc" for dimes & doughnuts, (as they're likely seeking some/more work anyway). Then we can push it out to all corners of the world through resources like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and countless news agencies and citizens groups.

If enough people despise Canada's corruption and filth, (as we should) then perhaps shiny little "Justy" will get off his arse and attempt to fix Canada's share of the world's oldest and largest single problem !! ... (corruption in and around government).

We just need a well produced video to start. International support through online petitions via Avaaz, Change.org and others will come free, and with relative ease. We have hundreds of thousands of supporters in Canada and we can quickly grow that into millions. Now there's ammunition !!

Let's face it folks, bitchin' to the crooks hasn't changed their minds. They still want more of our children's money. That's what psychopaths do. Exposure is key.

It's not merely coincidence, that the figure of "1%" refers not only to the disproportionately wealthy in societies ... but also to the actual percent of psychopaths.

Can we stop trying to merely negotiate now and apply some real kickback??

Well, an hour after I posted on being cautious of being considered a lunatic (for bringing truth to the table),it so happened at the Dunphy Inquiry,that Symth was being questioned on this use of the word lunatic to describe Dunmphy (words which he deleted from his phone but were recovered)Just a matter of casual speaking sure, says Symth.....and does not reflect his professional way of doing things. PROFESSIONAL!!!!! Boy oh boy. To confirm that this was just a matter of informal speech, Symth declared that he has even called his own lawyer...Kennedy, a LUNATIC. And this brought chuckles from the 10 or more lawyers siting around there. Intentional black humour no doubt.... to think, Symth can straight face make a joke of this! Small world in Nfld, Kennedy who enthusastically declared we should have no problem with spot sales of Muskrat Power to Boston for 1 dollar a kwh, and was government JUSTICE minister, and helped get the sanctioning of Muskrat pushed through.......is now defender in chief for the killer of Dumphy. Kennedy a lunatic........really...... Seems the whole province is full of lunatics to put up with this shit. Psychopaths, however are not lunatics, strictly speaking. They are very good manipulators of other people, just like pedeaphile priests. What a sad and tragic situation we have.

Kennedy also said our bills would only increase $20-$30 a month due to MF, even at 16.4c kWh that was a blatantly false statement: G2J X 5.4 cents (difference between current and 16.4c kWh) = $957 /12 is almost $80 more a month. NL media couldn't even google residential energy usage annually in NL, find 62J, convert it to kWh and times it by the kWh difference to find out if PCs/Nalcor were telling the truth. Took them at their word, no investigative journalism or even basic arithmetic.Liberals committing to a Royal Commission for MF before the 2015 election and they would be smelling like roses now, with more then enough evidence to fire Ed Martin and the entire BoD for cause.Former Nalcor BoD chaired by Kenny Marshall might have given Ed Martin his golden parachute, but will they be front and center for any MF inquiry.

The powers have already decided that no inquiry is necessary. It would expose the truth and corruption. Somebody important might go to jail.

Maybe an Auditor General Repot is the best that can be hoped for for the time being.

I think that O'Leary is the only CPC candidate on record about this very bad Fed funded boondoggle. Lisa Raitt and others were in support of Harper placing Fed guarantee. They will not take leadership.

Maybe an NDP candidate or two will join the opposition to the deal. Liberals are too much in complicity with the deal to do anything about it.

We are spending too much time and effort here, slogging a dead horse call for an inquiry.

I'm expecting a better adherence to Accounting principles from the Auditor General, (successor to Sheila Fraser, a good guy from NB?). We need more National attention drawn to this boondoggle. Provincial powers have no guts for the truth.

Not forgetting Bruno. True, Federal government aren't too interested in implicating themselves. Canadians generally are not aware of the extent that their government has become involved. It is the duty of the AG to inform, and I believe he will in due course. Pearson held his nose as you say, and the result is the Churchill contract. We should expect, and demand better regarding Muskrat. I have conceded that the powers are unwilling and thereby incapable of stopping the project. We might therefore expect that the abyss gets deeper than one can imagine.

Interesting, we have the leader of the opposition today in the evening telegram and on radio talk programs flogging the the dead mouse, the ed martin severance, meanwhile nobody is talking about 'the big rat' that has the potential to bankrupt us all, Muskrat Falls and its transmission lines!

Davis is being a hypocrite: Who wrote Ed Martins labor contract and even hired him in the first place, appointed an inept yes-men Nalcor BoD with little construction or utility experience, took the legs out from under the PUB, rushed sanction/announcement just so DW could high tail it out of here, cut the MF debate short in the HoA, awarded the tenders?

You would think with the ongoing inquiry Davis wouldn't want to draw attention to his association with the PC Party and the sad fact he is still their leader. Liberals have made mistakes but PCs are doing their best to squander any political gains from it. 8 PC MHAs were reelected, if one of them visits you before the next general election ask them why they didn't hold an inquiry into Don Dunphy's death as soon as they could "waiting for the RCMP report" is just passing the buck showing no leadership.

Russell at the Telegram wrote a piece on Mar 4 saying Liberty had a new report citing declining power demand forecast..........i searched for it on the PUB site and cannot find it and emailed Russell looking for the source of this and got no reply...........can anyone direct me how to find it?Winston Adams

Let it not be said that women talk more than men. Last night I had a 3 hour (10pm to 1am) telephone conversation with a class mate and fellow engineer who had worked with Nfld Hydro. The contact was made by my friend, now retired, and living in British Columbia, and who regularly follows THE UNCLE, and knows some of the contributors or commentators, such as me. We mentioned names, fellow engineers: George Hobbs, Wally Reid, Dave Collett, Fred Martin, Sam Banfield, Jim Long,Dave Fogwell, John Mallam.........we felt pride in having contributed to building the infrastructure of our Nfld Island Power Grid, that transformed Nfld in many positive ways, and if not world class, it was good work by dedicated workers. We pondered ......what has gone wrong. He mentioned discovering the book by Cabot Martin, Muskrat Madness, commented on the excellent work by Maurice Adams,(Vision 2041 blog) on his technical knowledge as well as the artistic, and wondered if he was a relative of mine (he is). Most of all he speculated on the identity of JM, and commented on the highly professional nature of JM`s work, it`s positive contribution to this issue, and as evidence that poor analysis had been done as to Muskrat and that sound alternatives were not evaluated. He also expressed disappointment that there has been so little opinions expressed by the engineering profession of the province, and wonders too, like me, whether MUN has let us down. He is aware of my investigative work, for the Nfld climate, on mini-split heatpump technology and encouraged me to publish it.....and of the rapid uptake of these systems in British Columbia and country wide. He agrees that energy efficiency for customers is not what Nalcor or Nfld power wants to see, and wonders as to the new Consumer Advocate`s position. He wonders why NRC has not done more on this, as to the benefit of the country and power demand issues. He advised that THE UNCLE is widely read, and is impressed with the excellent work of Des Sullivan. He speculated that JM may be a composite of two individuals, who together have a wide knowledge of the issues not expected in a single person. This seemed reasonable. JM.....the Mystery Man or Woman.....when will we know the identity.......Winston Adams

Well, well Vocm has confirmed JM's claim "Dwight Ball confirmed today Emera owns a majority stake in the Labrador-Island Link following cost overruns with the project". Emera is now the majority owner of the LIL, traded away for quick cash under the table.

This only became public after this blog post. We would continue to be in the dark about this skullduggery had JM not spilled the beans. Kudo's to JM and Uncle Gnarly.

Is this how part time CEO Marshall plans to reduce the cost to ratepayers, by turning over control to Emera and paying Emera the 81/2 return on investment? Is it not time Marshall was pressed to earn his keep with some clarity or is he too just milking the public purse for as long as possible?

I'm getting an idea as to how the Ball Govt's hands are tied because of the legal complications which are/have been always in Emera's favour. If we were to back out or put it on hold, I suspect we would essentially have to declare bankruptcy as we are unable to come up with additional cash to satisify Emera's equity stake and they would be poised to pounce and take over MF and UNDOUBTEDLY our interests in the Upper Churchill. Emera would (in partnership with QH) control all of the power generation of the UC and MF, thus dictating what we as NL ratepayers are to pay for our electricity.This scourge which Danny Williams and Kathy Dunderdale have inflicted upon the unsuspecting residents of this province having bulldozed the project through with misinformation, half truths and outright lies all to satisify the ego of Williams. I'm convinced that even though Williams vacated the Premiership he was still firmly in control of the Government. I think the public spat he had with Dunderdale after leaving office was all a ruse to try and convince the public that Dunderdale was calling the shots thus absolving him of any responsibility should problems arise, putting the blame firmly at Dunderdale's feet.Muskrat Falls looks like one of the biggest frauds EVER perpetrated on a largely unsuspecting public. If it were not for UNCLE GNARLEY we would still be in the dark and the s--t would hit the fan for some time to come yet.Essentially we're SCREWED thanks to Danny Williams and Kathy Dunderdale (Dunderdale had the power to stop this in its tracks but neglected to do so).It would be interesting to see who owns what shares in what companies who had anything whatsoever to do with MF.J---S Ch---T will someone help us please!!!

"Help" at this stage can only come from the Federal Government. Muskrat boondoggle has become a National issue. Pay attention to the political leadership campaigns, (CPC and NDP). If Canadians truly want to change the bad management and corrupt dealings which brought about projects like Muskrat, the grass roots must change the leadership! If CPC leadership won't carry the ball, try the other party.

The VOCM (Voice of the COMMON MAN) question of the day :are your concerned about being able to pay your power bill... shows 88 percent says Yes, 9 percent no 3 percent don`t know. This shift in concern is tied in with the Emera issue, as disclosed by the Uncle via JM in this post. Listened to Sullivan with Pat Daley, this morning.......excellent job and even Daley is finally showing serious concern. Sucey yesterday commented on the Uncle Blog, and says he gets negative comments on his concern about Muskrat,some saying that Sucey is fear mongering. Sucey stands firm on his opinion, long questioning Muskrat, and often mentioned the information diclosed on this blog. Seems the shit is near hitting the fan, as you cannot fool all the people all the time as to what a great project Muskrat is.....88 percent concerned......WOW, what a change......the Uncle Gnarley effect to bring truth to the table.Winston Adams

Agreed Robert with your opinion. But still important to see the percentage of concern by the general population........generally VOCM question in the past showed little from 50-50 split. Could never understand why so little concern on rates to double. I recall that Nflders were very concerned aboit losing thier favorite brand of Zest pickles, but little concern about power rates......manybe because how this has been deliberately confused by those in power.Even today the number that responded to the VOCM poll is only about 3500 so far. This should be 10000 or more...........yet 88 percent is significiant. Only when enough average people get angry at this situation will politicians take ratepayers serious. Angry.... but hope they don't send RNC or RCMP to deal with angry people.....seems the Charter nor police may not protect angry people ......like we see from the Dunphy Inquiry. I guess one can be both angry and peaceful, sure need to get video recorders on the blue guys, since there are a few bad apples there, but a minorityWinston

As readers of this blog know, the Muskrat rationale for demand for power was to create forecasts that was actually fake news, an art form prior to Trump. Stan Marshall later called them false assumptions. Visit the blog Vision 2041 under the heading of NEWS or DEMAND and see the latest in a visual composition that clearly shows the real from the fake, based on what has happened and truth is catching up to the deceit.Some who still promote Muskrat would say this is hindsight and no one could know for sure. Maybe not for sure, but what we see now would be the forecast with hight certainity, .....because this is the path of most prudent power utilities who have experienced and actually forecast no long term growth, and they actual forecast and plan for demand reduction......those progressive power companies of course do not use false assumptions and fake news. And they keep customer power rates stable instead of doubling them. Such prudent power companies can be found all over North America, but not in Nfld and Labrador. Oh yes, and they are forced to work with Efficiency Corporations, to avoid conflict of interest by the power companies, who just hate customer efficiency..........it kills revenue and profit. Imagine if we had a working efficiency corporation to hasten the demand decline further. But that kind of prudence has not reached beyond Nova Scotia......must be the fog that stops it....fog or Fortis shareholders. They like the sweaters and blanket concept, part of our culture sure, dished out daily on TV ads. WA

About Des Sullivan

Uncle Gnarley is written by Des Sullivan, of St. John's.
He is a businessman engaged in real estate, retail and development companies.
A Director of Sullivan Capital Corporation, he is a former Executive Assistant to Premier's Frank D. Moores (1975-1979)and Brian Peckford (1979-1985).
He also served as a Part-Time Board Member on the Canada-Newfoundland Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB).
Uncle Gnarley permitted the use of his highly regarded name provided he could have full access to state his own rather unequivocable opinions. (A more detailed Profile of Uncle Gnarley is described in the very first Post entitled "Uncle Gnarley is alive and well" found on this site.
Sullivan is a firm advocate of sound fiscal management by the provincial government and intends to use this Site as a forum for commentary on the major issues of the day. Says Sullivan, "Newfoundland and Labrador inspires debate on a variety of issues, a veritable Muskrat Falls of opinion".
Readers are invited to leave their opinions, too.
Uncle Gnarley will post every Monday, and more often as events warrant.